Legal plan for immigrants not enough

A child from Honduras sits with older youths being processed at a U.S. Border Patrol station in Brownsville. The surge in unaccompanied children crossing the South Texas border illegally has created a humanitarian crisis. The Obama administration has taken steps to help, but more must be done.

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SAN ANTONIO — Providing unaccompanied immigrant children who are threatened with deportation with legal counsel is something of a no-brainer.

Read the fine print of the newest Obama administration proposal, however, and it is at once inadequate.

Unaccompanied immigrant children are a burgeoning problem, particularly in Texas. Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland has housed 1,820 such children the past few weeks. They are fleeing poverty and violence in their Central American countries, primarily El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

A surge in their numbers prompted the administration to set up temporary housing for them in federal facilities, Lackland included. Some 840 have been released to family members or sponsors, explained an Express-News article recently by Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje.

The administration's action on providing shelter and legal counsel for such youth is commendable, as is its plan to ask Congress for an additional $1.57 billion for 2015 to care for the children. And it's not nearly enough.

The plan for counsel calls for $2 million in grants to attract about 100 lawyers and paralegals to represent some children. We emphasize the word “some.”

These lawyers will help those children younger than 16 —
not in custody — who have gotten a court notice to appear for deportation proceedings.

But what of the 47,000 children who have been caught trying to cross the border without parents since October? That's a 92 percent increase over last year. Federal officials predict 60,000 will try to cross this fiscal year.

It is daunting enough for adults caught up in our Byzantine immigration system. Now, imagine you are a juvenile in federal detention.

In fact, a federally funded public defender system for all immigrants in detention and facing deportation is the more just route. For adults and children.

The money will be distributed to nonprofit groups in 29 cities that have large immigrant populations. We urge immigration attorneys now practicing to take a look at the program, which will offer stipends of up to $24,200 and financial help with tuition or paying down student loans.

This is a good first step by the administration, but there is so much more to do.